Last night while watching tv with Coco, she either sneezed or coughed about 10 times in a row...after that her crop was filled with air. She seemed to be fine other than that, so I thought I'd just monitor her, this morning her crop is still filled with air. I'm going to take her to the vet after work, but can anyone tell me what they think happened?

Wow, that's interesting. I've seen something like it in birds who had ruptured an air sac in the past. The damaged air sac sometimes doesn't full empty with each cycle and gradually blows up into a "bubble" on the side of the birds neck. Especially when they have been stationary for a while but deflates wth activity. I've never heard or seen anything relating to the crop though. Please do post back. It will be interesting to hear what your vet finds.

ok, so I came home from work, and her crop looked much better than it did this morning, but was still a little puffy, so off we went to see the AV....her airways are all clear, and her lungs sounds great, so he says that because of the big sneezing fit she had last night (still don't know what that was all about) she seemed to have ruptured an air sac, but it looks like it has sealed itself, and her body is dealing with the air now, and absorbing it slowly.....she got a clean bill of health!!! I feel so relieved!! Thanks for sending all of your good thoughts our way everyone!

I'll probably get kicked off the board for this, but I feel compelled to share some experience with you, luv.

A ruptured air sac is not an uncommon injury among exotic birds living in captivity. Particularily those that are unclipped and flighted. It seems that when this occurs, the air sac will invariably seal itself. However, seal and heal are two completely different things. When dealing with air sacs, we are talking about tissue that is only microns thick. Depending on the magnitude of the rupture and the ability of the individual bird's physiology to heal itself, the rupture may or may not heal "good as new". Some do, some don't and I have no idea what the percentage of one to the other is. What I do know is that for those birds that fall into the latter group, the periodic inflation and deflation of the effected air sac may be a lifetime phenomenia. It could occur several times a day, week or even month.

It is not my intention at all to be negative, alarmist or to rain on your parade. I just want you to know that I have worked with a number of birds over the years that were injured years or even decades before in which this condition didn't just "go away". I pray that Coco doesn't fall into this group, but I would not want you to be alarmed or over-concerned if he does. The condition looks kind of odd, but it is completely benign and, to the extent humans can determine, totally painless. It does not effect quality of life at all.

Again, my apologies for being a wet-blanket, I just thought you would want to know in the unlikely event that you should find Coco "bloated" again.

LOL Dave, now why would you get kicked off the board for sharing such good information???

It's the sharing of our knowledge and experiences that makes us all better at what we do - provide the best for the birds in our care. And that means being prepared - for the best of situations, or the worst, or the inbetween.

I don't think you are being negative or an alarmist at all, just being honest from your experience and I'm sure Yvonne will agree.

We are a straight-up group here and appreciate straight-up contributions.

I used to consider my primary AV negative and an alarmist. Over the years I have come to respect him for that because he always gives it to me straight-up. "This is what what can happen", but "This is what I suspect".

Hope to see more of you here Dave!

Birds are angels who lift us up when our own wings forget how to fly.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has!" ~~~ Margaret Meade ~~~

thanks Dave, I guess I should have mentioned that my AV told me the that air sac was actually only one cell thick (or thin, as the case may be) and that it could likely re-occur some other time. He told me that if it happens again, to watch for breathing and see if she seems to be in any distress. If she is breathing fine, and acting fairly normal than it's best to take a day off of work, and just watch her closely because taking her to the AV and having her towelled and examined can cause the situation to get worse because of the stress, or her fighting the towelling, etc... it is a common thing that can happen, as it did with her....because of a sneezing attack...the same way that we can pull a muscle during a violent sneeze attack. I'm relieved that in future, should this ever happen again, I have some knowledge, and know what to look for. I hope this helps you all as well!I just want to say thanks again to all of you for being here when I needed you...I appreciate it

Zazu had a ruptured air sac. It was around for a little while but haven't seen it in years. It cleared itself up. My vet drained it the first time to make sure there wasn't an infection. She got air in the syringe which was good. Of course, I took pictures if anyone wants to see what it looks like. Can't post them until the weekend though.